Thomas Ten Hoeve Jr. is inaugurated as president of Butler County Community College on Dec. 10, 1970. He delivered his first address as president to more than 600 faculty members, guests and community members in the Butler high school auditorium. Butler Eagle File Photo

Thomas Ten Hoeve Jr., the man who would become Butler County Community College’s longest-running president for years to come, began his official tenure on campus in May 1970, and was inaugurated in a ceremony Dec. 10, 1970.

Ten Hoeve received a medallion of oak from the Oak Hills campus of the college from the chairman of the board of trustees, William Walker, during his inauguration at Butler high school’s auditorium.

In his address to the crowd of more than 600 people, Ten Hoeve challenged the trustees to wrestle with how the college could reach further into the community and requested the assistance of each community group in attendance in pursuing that challenge.

Walker urged Ten Hoeve to make the campus a beacon that can light every home, every business and every industry in the county, adding that he hoped to see the college become a fully accredited institution.